Cisco to bring “human network” to your stereo

Cisco is a giant in the world of corporate networking, but the company plans …

The Cisco brand is synonymous with corporate network hardware and business support, but if the company's new strategy succeeds, the range of products associated with its name could become much larger. Cisco's intended sphere of expansion is something of a departure: it intends to announce a new digital stereo at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. Exact details aren't yet available, but one feature of the system is the ability to move music wirelessly around the house.

In order to make consumers care about said capability, Cisco is going to have to demonstrate that it has developed a better, smoother way to deliver wireless library access from a single endpoint. There's nothing inherently new about the idea of accessing a central music archive from the bedroom, bathroom, or basement, but we've yet to see one particular product break away from the pack of competing solutions (unless you have cash to burn on a Sonos system). There's a significant opportunity for the right company with the right product, but whether or not Cisco, with its historically business-oriented focus, is that company is very much an open question.

Cisco, to be sure, is pushing into audio/video networking technology on both commercial and consumer fronts. Earlier this month, the company announced its Media Experience Engine (MXE) 3000, a 1U rack system designed to convert content so as to be playable on any device. The MXE 3000 is being advertised as delivering real-time post production/processing, watermarking, and audio/video editing capabilities. The entire point of the MXE 3000, according to Cisco, is to allow businesses to handle a suite of various A/V-related tasks they would once have farmed out to a production studio.

Even if the commercial side of the A/V equation is well in hand, meshing it with consumer-oriented products (or creating a separate consumer product division) is a formidable task. Creating a brand presence in a new market is tricky at the best of times; neither a recession nor the presence of other, long-established companies in the same field are going to help. On the other hand, adding a new major player to the game could push competitors like Sony or Apple to expand and extend their own relevant product series.

According to Cisco senior vice president Ned Hooper, a key component of the company's content distribution plan is to loosen the ties that currently bind content tightly to specific devices or software. "Today your content is very tightly tied to a device," Hooper told the New York Times. "Your music is tied to your iPod. Your games are tied to your PlayStation.

Hooper envisions a very different future, in which content is less tethered, saying, "If I forgot to sync my iPod before I left home, I can connect in my hotel room."

In addition to the digital stereo we've already mentioned, Cisco hopes to interest consumers in a version of its Telepresence video conferencing setup. Hooper is optimistic about the future of video conferencing on both a consumer and corporate level."Once you can go to full HD quality, with simple setup and high-quality experience," Hooper said, "it tips the balance."

Maybe, but color me dubious. Video conferencing is one technology that's been just over the horizon for at least two decades; I'm not convinced it will suddenly become a must-have feature for consumers; and how broad is the market, really, for folks who want to conduct conversations from the couch while staring at a giant shot of grandma's head on the HDTV?

As for Cisco's new digital stereo, the specific product details will be interesting to watch, but the company's long-term business plan for entering and thriving in the consumer market is much more important than any single product.